Man offers co-worker’s 14-year-old, other kids money for sex acts, Kentucky cops say
A 39-year-old business owner is accused of luring his co-workers’s children into his home, along with their friends, and offering them money in exchange for nude photos or sex acts, Kentucky police said.
“Through (Jeffrey) Waddell’s business, he met individuals who had children, befriended those children, and would do things like play video games with them, things of that nature, invite them over to his house,” Kenton County Commonwealth attorney Rob Sanders told WLWT.
Waddell’s attorney information was not listed in court documents.
While at Waddell’s home in Independence, he inappropriately touched one 11-year-old boy, then exposed himself and tried to force the boy to touch his genitals, according to court documents filed Feb. 26 in district court.
Another 11-year-old boy, the son of Waddell’s co-worker, witnessed this and also endured pressure to inappropriately touch Waddell on other occasions, court documents said.
In another incident, the 14-year-old son of Waddell’s co-worker was offered money to touch the man’s genitals while the two watched a movie while no adults were around, police said.
These exchanges happened over the course of approximately six months, the criminal complaint said.
One boy’s phone, a third 11-year-old, showed multiple CashApp transactions from Waddell, according to court documents. Text messages between the two also included the man asking the child for explicit photos in exchange for money, police said.
Waddell was arrested Feb. 25 and is facing charges of human trafficking, promoting sex performance by a minor, sexual abuse and sodomy, documents said.
He was arrested at an IT business he owns, documents said.
He is being held in jail on a $500,000 bond, per court records.
Waddell is scheduled to appear in court March 4.
Independence is about a 70-mile drive north from Lexington.
This story was originally published February 27, 2025 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Man offers co-worker’s 14-year-old, other kids money for sex acts, Kentucky cops say."
